Educational Media Reviews Online

The Same River Twice is a well-received, well-acclaimed film that revisits five of the participants in the 1978 documentary, Riverdogs, 20 years later. It was shown at numerous film festivals and won awards, justifiably so.

The documentary begins with a brief segment from Riverdogs, explaining that 17 people in their 20s went on a last, month-long river trip down the Colorado River in 1978 after having lived an “unstructured, communal life” for a few years. Focus then switches to contemporary interviews of five of the original trip members and some of their reactions to the original film. Throughout the rest of the documentary footage from the two films are interwoven to contrast the individuals in their youth with their current stage in life. This film is by no means marked by sadness or undue regret at having changed from an unstructured life to a more regulated one; these five subjects are active, fulfilled, optimistic people who are deeply involved in their communities, families, and commitments to values.

Interviews are not conducted as typical question and answer sessions. The subjects, Barry, Cathy, Danny, Jeff, and Jim, watch the old footage of themselves and comment on how they’ve changed or what they would do differently if they had the opportunity, such as when Cathy views a segment of her silent acceptance of Barry’s sarcastic dismissal of her comments; Cathy now states that she’s now more self confident and would speak up. Glimpses of their current lives are interwoven with their reactions: we see that Cathy is now mayor of Ashland, Oregon, Barry is running for mayor of Placerville, Jeff is now on a book tour, Danny has become an aerobics instructor, and Jim is still a river guide.

All five of the subjects are expressive, perceptive, unpretentious people portrayed without any hint of judgment or implied opinions that they’ve “sold out” or forgotten their ideals and become materialistic. Nowhere in the film is any notion of success or failure introduced: through imagery and interviews, this film portrays them and their present state of being in a candid manner without resorting to cheap laughs or manipulation through melodrama, music, or other techniques.

Hearing about their choices, changes in life, and missed opportunities is absorbing, despite the lack of information as to what prompted these choices or the extent of their changes. From this documentary we have only a brief peek and some generalizations about who they were then, yet this film stands on its own. The ubiquitous experiences of aging and coming to terms with mortality are themes that the film handles well and need no supporting material. We see them going from their summer trip when they had a “sense there was nothing but time” to their modern lives where they dash from one errand or activity to another.

In contrast to the grainy segments from the original documentary in 1978, the new segments have sharp video and audio quality. Director Rob Moss is not prominent in the film; interviews portray mostly the reactions of the five subjects with very little prompting from the director. Occasionally a segue isn’t particularly smooth, such as when Cathy comments movingly on how her marriage ended and the next scene is Barry getting the kids ready for school in the morning. Overall, however, the film flows together well and is engaging to the end.

This film would fit nicely in both public and academic libraries. It is highly recommended, but might be augmented by the original documentary, Riverdogs, as part of the collection. Seeing more of these individuals as they were in 1978 might give greater insight to the changes in their lives over 20 years than brief clips of the original sewn into the new documentary can provide. Many nude scenes are included from the original Riverdogs documentary so this film may not be appropriate for all audiences.

Awards

• Best Documentary Film, Nashville Independent Film Festival, 2003
• Best Documentary Film, Sidewalk Moving Picture Festival, 2003
• Best Independent Documentary, New England Film and Video Festival, 2003
• Audience Award, Chicago International Documentary Film Festival, 2003